Laptops between $500-600 range???

[Smittie61984]

Need some help.

My puter isn't working so well. It's a laptop with a screen that can't close due to the hinge being broken. Also the power jack is loose and I have to twist the power cord just the right way for it to charge and I can't use it then. Roughly $500 to fix the screen and $185 to fix the jack is what I have found. So I decided to say F'it and get a new computer.

My current computer is a gateway M366 or M336. Something like that. I can't even find a jack even using Gateway's website with the model search. But what it has is roughly 80GBs with 1gb of RAM with Intel Centrino duo something something (Basically I know litte about computers). I found for $685 (Cost to fix my computer back to normal) I can get a new computer with 250+GB and 3gb of RAM.

But again I know little about computers and don't want to screw myself with a bad computer. All I really know is bigger numbers are better (And more expensive).

Now I don't play video games at all. Not on a computer nor Playstation,Xbox,Wii,etc. I need it mainly for school and surfing the interwebs. Large harddrive is a plus since I have thousands and thousands of pics and a ton of videos with more to come once I get a helmet camera. Plus I have a lot of music that I play while doing school work and searching multiple websites at once. I guess I need Microsoft Word along with some sort of Movie editor like Windows Movie Maker. 15"-16" screen. I do like it when the computer acts fast. That's all I can really think of.

Here are some choices I have found. Let me know what you think.
This is what I originally wanted but it looks like they are all out
It's a Toshiba
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9027732&type=product&id=1218010173766

Acer
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9097121&type=product&id=1218021916305

Now Circuit City is closing all their Atlanta stores so I'm hoping I can get a better deal at the store if they have it...
HP
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-G60-230us-16-Widescreen-Laptop-G60230US/sem/rpsm/oid/233244/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

Sony Vaio
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-VAIO-VGN-NS135E-S-15-4-Widescreen-Laptop-Granite-Silver-VGN-NS135E-S/sem/rpsm/oid/223818/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

Any help is appreciated cause I have to have a new one by next week for school (All my math homework is done online).

[jtemple]

Lenovo ThinkPad. They bought ThinkPad from IBM and the quality is unmatched. ThinkPads are well known for being excellent machines and the value has remained, even after the transfer of ownership. Accept no substitutes.

http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/index.html

[Gas Man]

I've had great luck with my toshiba laptops...

[Amber Lamps]

I've had great luck with my toshiba laptops...


I've heard good things about Toshiba as well. Have you considered going over to the "Dark Side" and getting a Mac? I know that price is an issue... also,I've heard some really intriguing things about this company as well,check them out they are based in Atlanta,I believe.

http://visioncomputers1.reachlocal.net/items.asp?Cc=WEB-NOTEBOOKS&Bc=

[Amber Lamps]

One thing I will say from my limited experience,I'd get the faster processor,dual core,a 2+G ram and the "N" wireless card. I'm using the "N" type wireless and with my processor,even Gas' home improvement stuff just popped on my screen with zero wait. God I don't want to do this but....

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

You might want to look at Dell's outlet...

[nhgunnut]

I am using something considerably cheaper. I am not sure if it will meet your needs but I am have an Acer Aspire One. It is tiny I use it as a "NetBook" it was 350 at Walmart

[Smittie61984]

I got the Toshiba. 250gb hard drive and a 3gb Ram if I remember correctly. $668 total with tax and shipping. I'll be much kinder to the Toshiba than I was the Gateway.

As for Vision. That's where my buddy works at. Infact another friend of mine's brother works there too. They can't help me on a Laptop but if I was going to get a Desktop I'd be in the money. About 4 years back another buddy of mine got a $1500 equivilant computer for $800. Of course that computer is a complete POS by today's terms but in those days it was the bomb.

Glad to hear good things about Toshiba.

[racedoll]

Lenovo ThinkPad. They bought ThinkPad from IBM and the quality is unmatched. ThinkPads are well known for being excellent machines and the value has remained, even after the transfer of ownership. Accept no substitutes.

http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/index.html

My hubby bought an IBM Thinkpad (T43) and it's great. We see more people in Best Buy returning their laptops for one reason or another. A guy I work with has his in there 3 times within a month or 2 for stupid shit. Then again, you might get lucky and get a good one. From the research we've done it seems the "consumer" grade are made to last about 18 months or so, granted you get some that last 1 month or years. It's just a hit or miss, even with the one we got.

The IBM we bought is more of a business grade. A local store leases them to companies and then after a couple years they return and upgrade. The computer store then refurbishes these and resells to the public. He paid around $800, but it has features that the normal laptop doesn't have. And you can tell when typing on it the keys/keyboard are of better quality. The top is made of a combo of Ti and Magnesium for durability. The hinges are Ti as well. There are some other features, I just can't remember them all.

http://www.ibm.com/products/specialoffers/us/en/icue.html

[jtemple]

I have a T61 and R61e and couldn't be happier. A coworker's 6 year old daughter tossed her ThinkPad (coworker's old machine) down a flight of steps. The machine just keeps on running like nothing ever happened.

I will definitely buy ThinkPads in the future. They're well worth the extra money.